Source: Rick Gomez / Getty
A rowdy crowd goer threatened and hurled racial slurs at a Black Duke volleyball player during the team’s tense game against Brigham Young University (BYU) on August 26. Now, people are demanding for BYU officials to take accountability.
The player, Rachel Richardson, was called the n-word “every time she served” the ball during the match, her godmother Lesa Pamplin revealed on Twitter. Richardson, who is the only Black player on the team, was also threatened by the disgruntled fan. “She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench,” Pamplin added of the upsetting incident.
The unidentified fan reportedly sat in the BYU section during the entire game taunting Richardson and was never asked to leave. Multiple reports state that he was not a student of the school.
BYU issues apology
After Richardson’s story took the internet by firestorm, BYU issued a statement apologizing for the disruptive attendee’s behavior.
“We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU Athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior,” the statement read. “We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athlete competing last night for what they experienced. We want BYU athletic events to provide a safe environment for all, and there is no place for behaviors like this in our venues.” The fan was subsequently banned from attending future games.
Some say an apology isn’t enough
In a follow-up tweet, Pamplin said that the university’s apology wasn’t enough. She lit into school officials for their failure to stop the racist agitator.
“Not one freaking adult did anything to protect her,” she wrote, before telling her followers that Richardson would be sharing her story “soon.”
Online a ton of social media users also slammed BYU for their weak apology. One user named @VABVOX questioned why BYU team officials did not intervene when the “threatening behavior” occurred.
“What is your policy going forward and what punishments will accrue?” she asked.
USA Today journalist Mike Freeman lit into both BYU and Duke for their failure to protect Richardson.
While a third user slammed white crowd goers who “stood around” and “did nothing” to stop the fan’s inappropriate behavior.
Duke was scheduled to play against Rider on Saturday but the event was moved from BYU’s Smith Fieldhouse to a different venue in Provo, Utah, out of safety concerns, ESPN reported.
RELATED CONTENT:
‘It Went Into My Head’: Naomi Osaka Brought To Tears By Heckler At Indian Wells Masters
